- Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741)
King George's War between British and French colonies (1744-48)

1750

- Jonathan Edwards, Freedom of the Will (1754)
First American Masonic Hall inaugurated in Philadelphia (1755)
Seven Years War (French and Indian War) (1756-63)

1760

- Jonathan Edwards, "Personal Narrative" (1765)
First American medical school established at the College of Philadelphia (1765)
British parliament enacts Stamp Act, prompting anti-tax protests in the colonies (1765)
British parliament passes Townshend Acts requiring colonists to pay duties on tea and other imports (1767)

- J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, Letters from an American Farmer (1782)
- Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography: Part Two (written 1784)
- Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (1787)
- Royall Tyler, The Contrast (1787)
Shays's Rebellion, a revolt by debt-ridden Massachusetts farmers, suppressed by government forces (1786-87)
United States Constitution ratified (1789)
George Washington serves as first president of the United States (1789-97)